SX SJB-62 Short Scale Jazz Bass: Review

The $110 SX SJB-62 short scale bass is a fantastic instrument for any player. Though it's a boon for people with carpal tunnel or RSI, small-handed players, or young musicians, almost any bassist will find something to like about the SX short-scale Jazz. It retains the quality and low price of its bigger relatives while offering a slightly different tone.

Construction

The SX SJB-62 short scale bass is solidly built, with the usual Fender-style combination of solid alder body, maple neck, and rosewood fretboard. The body is a smaller version of the Jazz type, complete with pickguard, chrome control plate, volume/volume/tone controls, front-facing input jack and neck/bridge pickups. The pickups are hum-cancelling when used in tandem, but when one is at a different volume, there is minor hum. It's nothing terribly noticeable even played solo, and quickly gets buried against other instruments.

The small body has mixed results. It's much lighter than a normal Jazz, and can be worn for much longer before giving the player back or shoulder problems. However, less weight counteracting the heavy neck and tuners lead to neck dive, which can be cured by installing light tuners such as Hipshot Ultralights and adding a more massive bridge.

A nice feature of the short-scale SX bass is the smaller overall neck. It's not only four inches shorter than a standard bass, but it's thinner around and not as wide as even a standard SX Jazz bass's neck. It feels almost like a large mandolin neck, and is much easier on my smaller hands than full-scale basses.

While the tuners feel uneven when turning, they hold nicely and perform much better than I expected.

Fit and Finish

My SX short scale came in Lake Placid Blue, a beautiful color that looks like several different shades depending on the lighting. The neck and headstock came in the standard SX "vintage orange" -- like an old gym floor -- with a thick gloss that is somehow less sticky than it is on standard-size SX basses. Maybe it has to do with the thinner neck.

I noticed a few more problems on this bass than on my first SX. There were several dents on the neck and headstock; there wasn't anything too severe, but still more than I would have liked. The white pickguard has a few rough spots around the edges, and doesn't join too tightly with the control plate. A few scratches marred the hardware.

Still, with its problems, the SX short-scale Jazz bass is about on par with any Mexican-made Fender in the finish department.

Sound

I won't say the SX short-scale bass sounds bad. It does, however, sound noticeably different from long-scale basses. The tone is more concentrated on the fundamental note, with fewer coloring overtones. I don't mind this sound at all -- it's much more of what I want in a bass -- but many won't like the somewhat thin high end or the slightly muddy low end. It sounds best with both pickups used at the same time, or with just the bridge pickup. The neck pickup alone is too indistinct for a short scale, and notes become hard to distinguish.

Again, it isn't a bad sound at all, but it's different from long-scale basses, and those who like a trebly bite to their tone will probably be unsatisfied.

Final Verdict

For a small-handed player, or one who suffers from wrist or hand injuries, this bass is a must-have. Bassists who want a thumpy, old-school sound will love it, and almost any player will find it a happy addition to her collection. It doesn't have a bright, trebly sound, but it scores high marks in every other category. This bass is more than worth its low price.